kitchen cabinet refinish options

[ed kerns]

I have builder's grade honey oak finish cabinets in my kitchen. They are cheap cabinets, but at 20 years old, they are still fully functional and I have no real desire to tear them out and replace them. I'm looking for cosmetic options- paint, re-facing or whatever. TV and magazines are full of kitchen make over stories, but what I'd really like is to have some real world input from folks who have actually been there and done that. For what it's worth, my wife and I are likely on a 5 year plan and will be down sizing in the not too distant future. Thank you for your help.

[Admiral]

My brother and I rent out our parents old house, and what we did was wash the cabinets with TSP, then took lacquer thinner and wiped down what finish remained, then scotch brite on the surface, then paint with a high quality enamel. It's held up well for 7 years now, looks pretty good.

[toolmiser]

A new set of doors might make a quite a difference.

[crokett™]

2 years ago I ripped out our existing 70s kitchen and installed one I got off craigslist. I used Sherwin Williams ProClassic Latex Enamel. I took all the doors and hardware off and painted the cabinet carcasses and doors separately. It worked very well. It is a great self-leveling paint which means if you hang the doors and try to paint them vertically the paint is probably going to sag.

[Splinter Puller]

crokett™ said:

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2 years ago I ripped out our existing 70s kitchen and installed one I got off craigslist. I used Sherwin Williams ProClassic Latex Enamel. I took all the doors and hardware off and painted the cabinet carcasses and doors separately. It worked very well. It is a great self-leveling paint which means if you hang the doors and try to paint them vertically the paint is probably going to sag.

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I just build a new kitchen for the mrs. She wanted it painted. I used the SW proclassic. It went on great and looks great.

[Woodenfish]

I've used this Amy Howard One Step Paint and Liming Wax to complete a recent project. It was very easy to achieve an artistic look without prior skill or experience. People who have seen the finish were all in awe.

[K. L. McReynolds]

Sherwin Williams ProMar 200 over BIN shellac based primer. Get the shellac based kind, not the water based. The shellac based BIN will cover/stick to even dirty cabinets.

Before:


After:

[CLETUS]

K. L, McReynolds said:

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Sherwin Williams ProMar 200 over BIN shellac based primer. Get the shellac based kind, not the water based. The shellac based BIN will cover/stick to even dirty cabinets.

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How did you prep the cabinets?

[K. L. McReynolds]

Removed the doors, pulled off the trim, lightly sanded the doors (to smooth) and primed. Boxes were just primed. One coat of primer, two of paint.

Years ago, I painted an entire mobile interior that was paneled. Did not wash(did vacuum the walls) by priming with BIN and painting. Lasted 20+ years.

[Cooler]

I have similar red oak builder's cabinets. In good shape. But looks like it belongs in a house built 20+ years ago.

I decided to paint them. I am using black for the base cabinets and a medium gray for the uppers. I am using General Finishes (imitation) milk paint and top coating with clear. I did some samples and the milk paint brushes on flawlessly. It is really quite amazing. Zero brush strokes; zero runs. Two coats look like it was expertly sprayed on.

But the very matte finish will show scuff marks quickly and will soil almost as quickly. So I top coated with clear. The black is top coated with Minwax oil based semi-gloss poly. Two coats on the vertical surfaces and three on horizontal surfaces. It looks really good on the samples. But perhaps a bit too shiny. I may go at it with some 00000 steel wool to knock down the gloss later.

I believe that the top coated finish is a lot tougher than paint. And some of the gloss and semi-gloss water based take months to cure.

I painted my front door with Sherwin Williams best gloss water based paint and it remained soft for 6 months or so. It is hard now, but in a kitchen you are not going to touch the finish for 6 months?

I kept off my counter tops for 7 days and that was a huge chore.
The shelves and the wine rack were tests (satisfactory). I will re-finish the rest of the cabinets as soon as I finish up the guest bath.

Unfortunately the photo does not show the quality of the finish.

If you want to be amazed, then get a small can of the milk paint and brush on (with a foam brush) two coats over anything. No brush marks of any kind. Perfect coverage. But requires a top coat. I tried matte finish over the black and it looked awful. Went with the semi-gloss. The matte made the finish look gray.